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The DP thing is theoretically an issue, although in practice most likely not. MLS isn't going to let a rule get in the way of bringing arguably America's best player back to the domestic league. (And, as a minor note, DeRosario won't be a DP, but they have a young Argentine, Matias Laba, who is currently listed as one.)

This issue of rule clarity also came up with regards to Dempsey not going through the normal rules of allocation for USMNT players. I think Don Garber came out after the fact and said USMNT players who will be DPs don't have to go through allocation, although that wasn't altogether clear before the move.

This issue of rule clarity also came up with regards to Dempsey not going through the normal rules of allocation for USMNT players. I think Don Garber came out after the fact and said USMNT players who will be DPs don't have to go through allocation, although that wasn't altogether clear before the move.

Yeah they change the rules after the fact. But Portland basically said "he wanted to go to Seattle, not to Portland, and we weren't going to get in the way of Dempsey coming back to America." Looking the other way in this case is fine IMO. Maybe expand the rule, a 3rd DP costs a $250,000 fee, so make a 4th DP cost $500,000.

I specifically excluded United. Its one thing if they were playing "well" and were unlucky but they look like a sixth place team. Even last year when United won the Premier League, Valencia played terribly.

Fulham is in a relegation battle, but I think Bradley probably makes them safe (and they are currently above the drop zone). Its all moot now if he is indeed going to Toronto. I think its a mistake as he can still be a regular player for a mid-table Italian or English team which is much better competition.

Ursus, Chef, others -- what's a good guess on Bradley's salary at Roma? Something in the $1-2mm range, or is that significantly undershooting it? A simple Google search tells me he was at approximately $1.1mm for 2012, although I have no idea where they're pulling that. If it's remotely accurate, though, I'd guess that he'd be coming here for something close to what Dempsey's making ($6 or $8mm).

Ursus, Chef, others -- what's a good guess on Bradley's salary at Roma? Something in the $1-2mm range, or is that significantly undershooting it? A simple Google search tells me he was at approximately $1.1mm for 2012, although I have no idea where they're pulling that.

No idea, but if you put a gun to my head I'd say 50K€ a week. He just looks like a 50K-a-week player.

Thanks for posting that link MCoA! And indeed, the pass was equally if not more impressive than the finish.

Negredo has been a joy to watch this year. I don't think I'd ever seen him play in Spain, so I had no idea what to expect. I'm not saying they're entirely similar players, but his power/accuracy with the left reminds me a lot of Van Persie. That finish on the first goal yesterday, in particular, was something out of RVP's highlight reel.

ESPN is reporting that Bradley's salary will be between five years, $32M and six years, $40M. About quintuple his wage for Roma, guaranteed well into his decline phase. So, not to be a crass materialist, but, that's why that happened.

No doubt he is terrible. It makes me thing Big Sam isn't even trying at this point.

The reports seem pretty strong that they're locked in to signing Lacina Traore on loan from Monaco. He's the real deal, and he's going to transform their attack completely. I still think West Ham are going to be safe. Though I have absolutely no handle on the relegation race at this point.

The reports seem pretty strong that they're locked in to signing Lacina Traore on loan from Monaco. He's the real deal, and he's going to transform their attack completely. I still think West Ham are going to be safe. Though I have absolutely no handle on the relegation race at this point.

Traore is good, but he's also a head case and, lately, West Ham have been atrocious in defense, something Johnson will only make worse. They tried to get Heitinga and Lescott, wisely enough, but whiffing on those two and settling for Johnson...They might not get relegated but I think they are in real trouble.

Ahem. 6 million quid! It's a little on the high side but another PL team would have given near that for Defoe. It's the wages that are really nuts but I guess they figured it would take something crazy to get Shift And Shoot to leave London.

edit: Watching that clip I'm struck by how modern Eusebio looks. I'm not sure there's a club in Europe he wouldn't immediately be first choice striker for. Also, when did they stop awarding indirect free kicks in the penalty box? I've never seen that for anything other than illegal backpasses. Also, Man U's keeper had a hell of a game!

Why don't they just come out and admit they don't care about being self-sustaining? They'd get less grief that way, I think. No one expects Man City to ever try to break even and whatever Abramovich's purpose is, I'm sure he knows he's never getting his money back and I'm sure he doesn't care.

These are George Best's highlights from the same game since, after all, Man U won that one.

As great as Eusebio looked, that's like throwing up a YouTube of Charlie Hough's knuckleball from Game 6 of the 1977 World Series and then saying "Oh, these are Reggie Jackson's highlights from the same game since, after all, the Yankees won that one."

It's not just a game Best played in, it's his signature game that won him the Ballon d'Or.

Hah, I recognize that came off a bit dickish. I just wanted to emphasize it wasn't just any ol' game for the boy from Belfast - it's the defining game of his career, the performance (more so because live football was so rare on TV at the time, so nearly every fan in the country saw the game) that justifies why Britain and Ireland considers the guy an icon.

I've been playing around with some broad league differences. Here's some stuff I'm noticing just on first view.

-In Serie A there are a lot fewer shots from inside the box (22463 to 26616) and from the danger zone (14685 to 18380), but slightly more shots from outside the box (22683 to 21633).
-In the Premier League there are way more blocked shots. Of the 18380 shots from the danger zone, 3806 were blocked (20.7%), while of 14685 danger zone shots in Serie A, just 2303 were blocked (15.7%).
-In part related to the rate of blocked shots, shots are converted much more often in Italy. About 18.6% of shots from the danger zone in Serie A are goals, compared to 16.6% in England. The conversion trend reverses with shots from outside the box, which are converted in Serie A at a rate of about 2.7% compared to 3.3% in the Premier League.
-The percentage of danger zone shots that are assisted by crosses is actually higher in Italy (50.3% to 46.7%). But the rate of headers assisted by crosses is about the same (36.0% to 35.2%), while in Italy there are many more crosses into feet. 14.3% of danger zone shots are regular shots assisted by crosses in Serie A, compared to 11.4% in England.
-There are way more through-balls played in Serie A. 2306 shots off through-balls in Serie A compared to 1651 in the Premier League, despite the much high shot rate in the EPL. As a percentage of shots from zones 3-5 (inside the box, outside the six-yard box, where most shots off through-balls are taken), that's 11.5% in Serie A compared to 7.1% in the EPL.

Hah, I recognize that came off a bit dickish. I just wanted to emphasize it wasn't just any ol' game for the boy from Belfast - it's the defining game of his career, the performance (more so because live football was so rare on TV at the time, so nearly every fan in the country saw the game) that justifies why Britain and Ireland considers the guy an icon.

No worries. Like most New Fans, I have an almost complete blank slate about soccer that occurred before 1994. To me George Best's signature moment came as a San Jose Earthquake.

No, I will never get tired of linking to that goal. I can't think of anyone in world football that can stop and start and change direction like George Best did. Is that a lost art? Even jink artists like Cole or Taarabt don't even approach that kind of skill.

Those #'s kind of bolster the stereotype of Italy as the paitient, cerebral league and the PL as the fast-paced blood and guts league.

Yup. On average it looks like there's a good amount of truth to the stereotype. The exceptions, I think, are (1) Italy is actually more cross-happy than England, just as many crosses to heads and more crosses to feet. And (2) "Patient" isn't necessarily the right term for taking even more shots from outside the box and converting fewer. But the blocked shot rate couldn't be more in line with the stereotypes. Hard English men throwing their English bodies in front of the ball with English courage and all'at.

Getting La Liga data now, and Atletico Madrid are for real. I have them with a ridiculous 33 xG, 11 xGA. 11! Eleven!

Atletico have allowed the fewest shots from the danger zone in La Liga (46). Next lowest are Espanyol (60), Barca (65) and Real Madrid (70). That is just a huge gap.

And fun, Atletica have also taken the fewest shots from outside the box in La Liga, with just 70. They have taken 72% of their shots from inside the box compared to league average 57%, and 48% from the danger zone (league average 38%). That is really cool.

Some minor PL news before the weekend. Rooney won't play tomorrow and has been sent to America for "warm weather" training. I'm assuming that means they sent him to Vegas to gamble and whore it up so he won't pay any attention to the tapping up Chelsea will attempt on the run up to the game next week. Rooney is great, but if they can get 40 million from Chelsea for him maybe they should just do it. He gets more and more high maintenance with every passing year. Tim Sherwood says Lamela isn't going anywhere. Diego Costa to Arsenal rumors have started but I can't imagine in a million years why Atleti would sell this winter when they have a chance to win La Liga and the Champions League. I'll bet a vintage Boba Fett action figure it won't happen. Defoe will stay with Spurs until February 28th. Looks like Tom Ince will be headed to Swansea, most likely. That's about it. A slow news day.

edit: I forgot, West Brom hired Pepe Mel, formerly of Real Betis, to be their head coach.

Supposedly Costa has a release clause and Atletico does need money. They owe a lot of back taxes.

Rooney only has 18 months left on his contract and I can't imagine him staying in the summer if United doesn't make Champions League. If United can get 20 or 30 million they should take it, but I was advocating selling him last summer.

They've owed those taxes forever. At this point I don't think any of the clubs in Spain are ever going to pay those taxes. Atleti doesn't even pay for players! I think if I ever had a club, I would follow the Atleti model. Buy all the players I want, shred the bills when they come in the mail and it'll all work out somehow. They are like Football Manager and Bernie Madoff all wrapped up into a package of awesome.

Even if Costa has a release clause, why would he accept the transfer? He can get huge money in the summer, and probably huger money if he's coming off a big La Liga or Champions League run. He also wants to be Spain's lead striker for the World Cup, and there's no way it's better for him to be elsewhere to make that case.

I don't think he would. He seems fairly committed to the cause. It's funny how he's become the new best striker in the world since Falcao left. I knew he was good, but I mostly knew his reputation for being batshit insane and a shameless cheater. I still hope he thumps a couple past Valdes tomorrow.

Boy, Spurs were ok in the second half but complete shit in the first half. I'm ALMOST ashamed of those 3 points. That was such perfect Defoe--gets a goal from an offsides position and has two great runs at goal but absolutely refuses to even think of passing and farts the opportunity away. I still love the little man but good luck to him in Toronto!

I've repeatedly said Roger Johnson and Chris Samba have been the worst CB's I've seen in the PL, but Senderos is going to crash that party. He's easily my vote for worst player in the league this year.

A little OT- I know it's a violation to hang from the crossbar in Soccer (Say, a defender clearing a ball off the line) But what about in American Football, a player *standing* on goalpost crossbar to block a long field goal?

The interesting tactical switch for Liverpool today was (I think I'm right in saying) a first under Rodgers -- Gerrard playing as the deepest lying midfielder with Lucas in a slightly more advanced role. Obviously the results weren't great, but based on some post-game comments I read from Gerrard, it's something that they might do more of going forward. I think the template is perhaps how Juventus use Pirlo -- he's not really a proper defensive midfielder, but he sits deepest, pings passes about and lets two of Marchisio, Pogba and Vidal (plus the wing-backs) carry his water. There's also been suggestions of dropping Gerrard even deeper, as in the middle man of a three man defense. I don't know quite yet what to think of any of these permutations, but keep in mind that this is all in the context of (a) wanting to have SAS as a pairing up top, as close to goal as possible, (b) wanting to maintain a solid, energetic midfield -- in other words, being able to play two of Henderson, Allen and Lucas, and (c) possibly most importantly, the assumption that Gerrard cannot or will not be dropped to the bench.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that combination of players has once played together under Rodgers, so you've gotta be pretty confident in your assessment abilities to say that group is "without a doubt" their best. It's possible it is -- you're pretty much saying "here's our best front four, deal with it" -- but I can spot one immediate problem and a second possible one: Sakho isn't a full-back, and the midfield is a bit light. I'd be very concerned using that midfield against any of the big sides (or on a cold, rainy Sunday at the Brittania). It probably works against your run-of-the-mill teams at Anfield, but then again, playing Gerrard in those games hasn't really slowed Liverpool down.

Hasn't Sakho played some fullback this year? Maybe you rotate him with Toure, but since they don't have an LB worth a damn, I'd just play their best defender at that extra spot. They're definitely light in midfield, but I don't see big differences in the other options - Joe Allen? Gerrard? Kelly? Liverpool doesn't have any destroyers in midfield. So yeah, I'd rather just get out some guys that can do something well. This also kind of ties into the idea of playing 3 CB-esque players - because their midfield is not going to be winning many headers.

Leading 2-0 after 13 minutes, Milan give up four to newly promoted Sassuolo (all four scored by 19 year old Domenico Berardi, who has scored more than half of his team's goals this season) and lose 4-3.

Milan are now 11th; six points above the first relegation place, but ten points off the last Europa League qualifying position.

Jason Puncheon seems to be the J.R. Smith of soccer. He acts like an idiot, he looks like an idiot, he has the facial features of a 47-year-old, and in photos he often has a creepy grin that doesn't help his cause one bit..

Those accusations he made about Warnock are really inflammatory. Has anyone in English football ever been caught doing something like that? I just don't see how a manager could possibly think to get away with that kind of shenanigans so my instinct is to say Puncheon is out to lunch on this one.